


Of flowers, dates and pining

by LeeGale



Series: Ad lunam, ut amica, ut mi stultus [15]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Flowers, Language of Flowers, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24591715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeGale/pseuds/LeeGale
Summary: After school, everyone favourate 'couple' hang out.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Mishima Yuuki, Kawakami Sadayo/Takemi Tae, Kurusu Akira/Mishima Yuuki, Mishima Yuuki/Persona 5 Protagonist, One-sided Akechi Goro/Mishima Yuuki
Series: Ad lunam, ut amica, ut mi stultus [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695079
Kudos: 27





	Of flowers, dates and pining

Later that day, after school, Kawakami called for Mishima and Akira to stay behind. The pair shared a concerned look as they waited beside the teacher's desk, silent until all of the other students were out of the room (even the helpers, who'd been sent off to go print something. Again. It was almost like Kawakami didn't know what else her students could be sent to do outside of the class...). Once they were all gone, Kawakami sighed and sent the boys a flat look.

"I don't usually get involved in this kinda thing, but... I have to ask if you two are dating," she stated, and Mishima spluttered, blushing brightly as he tried to say they weren't. The unimpressed look the teacher sent him told him he wasn't being believed, but Akira spoke up first.

"We are," he stated, reaching out and clasping Mishima's hand. The bluenette froze, sending Akira a wide-eyed look, but the younger teen just sent him a small, soft smile before focusing on Kawakami and continuing, "I'm going to guess you had to ask to make sure I won't hurt Yuuki?"

Kawakami blinked before nodding, and Mishima watched closely as Akira sent her a reassuring smile and stated, "I have no intentions of hurting him. I can't promise that I won't unintentionally -he is my first boyfriend, after all. I'm bound to make a mistake and accidentally hurt him- but I have no plans of doing so, and would prefer to do everything in my power to make sure that I don't."

It was... short and to the point, and exactly what Mishima had imagined he'd say if they were actually dating... It made his heart squeeze in his chest as he was reminded of the fact that he and Akira weren't really together, that he didn't stand a chance, that Akira had feelings for some-

"... Good. That's all I can ask," Kawakami's voice brought Mishima out of his head, "But if you hurt him..."

"You have my word, as a gentleman and a thief, that I won't," Akira stated, bowing his head. It was... an odd choice of wording, but considering that Akira was a Phantom  _ Thief _ and the group in and of itself was technically comprised of 'gentlemen thieves' (as one of their teachers had taught them a while back), it was understandable. Kinda... Kawakami seemed to think the same thing, nodding and telling the boys they could go. Mishima sighed, saying goodbye quickly before tugging Akira away by the hand. As soon as they were out of the door, Mishima let go of Akira's hand, frowning. Akira asked him what was wrong, but he didn't get a reply as Mishima speed-walked through the halls, heading outside of the school and the grounds. Akira followed, silent and worried as Mishima walked to the nearest park and planted himself on a bench, hidden between a bush and several trees. As he sat, his mind raced, considering every potential outcome for Kawakami finding out they weren't dating or how she'd react if they 'broke up' or how Akira's friends would be-

He couldn't breathe. Fuck. He was having a panic attack in public, with Akira sat right next to him, looking concerned and too nice and way too good for Mishima. Stupid, useless, waste of space Mishima, who couldn't stand up to Kamoshida. Who'd been a harbinger of death and pain and suffering for his former teammates. Who'd spilt Akira's personal record all over the internet. Who'd messed up time and time again and was a freak and a waste of space and-

"Yuuki, listen to my voice, okay? You're safe, okay?" came Akira's voice, cracking through the fog surrounding Mishima's mind. The bluenette made a pained noise, curling in on himself until his head was between his knees. He needed to breathe but he couldn't and his chest hurt and his head was screaming at him and he  _ just couldn't breathe- _

"You're safe, Yuuki. I... I'm so sorry for telling Kawakami that we're dating... We can figure this out together, okay? I've got you..." Akira kept it up with his words of encouragement, whispering soothing words to Mishima until the bluenette was able to calm down. Once he could breathe easily, Mishima wiped his face with a tissue (he always kept a packet in his pocket) and grounded himself by digging his nails into his thighs. Once he was ready to, he turned to Akira.

"I... S... Sorry. I just... I was worried about how my aunt and your friends would react if they found out that this is fake or when we 'break up' or if something went wrong or-"

"I understand," Akira cut him off with a small smile, "I... I've been worried about the same thing..."

Mishima blinked in surprise at that, so Akira hesitated before pulling him into a hug. The smaller teen tensed up before practically melting, ducking his head under Akira's chin and curling his arms around the other teen's waist. They both remained silent for a long while, curled around and intertwined with each other, until Mishima pulled away with a small smile and a whispered, "Thank you."

Akira didn't say anything, just smiled and stood before offering Mishima a hand up. The bluenette hesitated before taking Akira's hand, letting himself linger for a moment. Akira's hand was warm and calloused, but still somehow soft... Mishima wanted to hold on longer, to be able to convince himself that their 'relationship' was actually real... But he couldn't, so he let go almost as soon as he was on his feet before suggesting they head to the train station. However, when they arrived they realised that Akira had missed his train... Mishima sighed and turned to Akira, who was already looking at him (which made the smaller teen fluster, but he ignored that).

"I... Would you like me to wait until your next train comes?" he asked quietly, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear. Akira seemed to pause before lowering his head a little shyly...

"I was wondering if you'd come to LeBlanc? Futaba's been asking to see you..." he replied, and Mishima's heart skipped a beat. As much as pretending to date Akira hurt, Mishima loved spending as much time as he could with the other teen... He nodded, and Akira beamed at him before asking what he wanted to do whilst they waited for the next train. Mishima hesitated before suggesting they just wandered the underground mall, and Akira agreed. As they walked around, Mishima found his eyes being drawn towards the small flower shop...

"Do you like flowers?" Akira asked when he noticed what Mishima was looking at. The older teen hesitated, biting his lip shyly, before sighing.

"I... Yeah. I... That's not weird, is it?" he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. However, when Akira said it was fine and suggested they check out the shop, he relaxed. They walked over and, surprisingly, the woman working greeted Akira by name. Mishima sent his friend a questioning look, so Akira smiled slightly at him and said he worked there part-time. Mishima almost laughed at the idea of Akira working there in one of those little green aprons but stopped himself when the worker spoke up.

"What can I do for you and your friend today, Kurusu?" she asked, smiling and glancing between the pair. Mishima tensed, uncomfortable with the look in her eyes...

"I was hoping to buy something for Yuuki," Akira replied, placing a soothing hand on Mishima's arm when he noticed that the other teen was agitated. The worker raised an eyebrow at them before smiling and nodding.

"Do you have anything in particular in mind?" she asked, already getting ready to take his order. Akira appeared to hesitate before asking for a bouquet of orchids, seemingly oblivious to the blush that dusted Mishima's cheeks. There's no way Akira... No. If he knew what they meant, he would never-

"What size?" the worker asked, humming slightly when Akira replied with a quiet 'six please'. Mishima blinked in surprise before blushing brighter. Usually, the number of flowers in a bouquet only mattered with roses, but when paired with the fact that orchids are flowers of love, a bouquet of six flowers implied that Akira had feelings for him! Six flowers meant that he wanted to be with Mishima! That... That was impossible. It was more likely that Akira didn't know the significance. He probably just thought orchids were pretty and that six was a decent size for a bouquet... That had to be it. There was no way-

"Thank you for shopping with us!" the worker beamed, handing Akira the bouquet. With that done, Akira turned to Mishima and smiled.

"For you," he stated, holding the flowers out to Mishima. The bluenette hesitated before taking the flowers, muttering a quiet thanks as he smiled back, burying his nose in the flowers... Akira's smile grew and he called goodbye to the worker before leading Mishima away... Mishima couldn't fight the small smile that tugged at his lips as he followed Akira, silent as the other teen suggested they went to their usual diner. The smaller teen agreed, and they soon found themselves settled in their usual booth, Mishima's flowers carefully laid on the table. They didn't even get the chance to speak because a very familiar waitress walked over... Mishima took a second to remember who she was, nearly cringing when he realised that she was the woman who had served him, Boss and Futaba on the day of the wake...

"Hey, handsome," she greeted, eyes focused on Mishima as something dark danced behind them, "What can I get ya?"

Mishima hesitated before forcing himself to smile and reply, "I... I'll have a chicken salad and an iced caramel latte, please?"

As the waitress looked down to write his order in her notebook, the teen focused on Akira and, after sending him a look that told him to go with it, spoke directly to him, "What are you going to have, love?"

"A steak and a black coffee," Akira replied, smiling fondly at Mishima. The small display clearly put the waitress out, but she brushed it off with a smile and left. After she was out of hearing range, Mishima sighed and focused on Akira.

"S... Sorry about that," he stated, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "Th... The last time she served me was when I came here with Boss and Futaba. S... She kept flirting with me and I was pretty uncomfortable so Futaba said I had a boyfriend. A... And with you here, I... I could get her off of my back..."

"That's okay," Akira replied, smiling sweetly. Mishima found himself relaxing, but he began to splutter and blush when Akira smirked and continued, "I don't want anyone hitting on my boyfriend..."

Mishima had to hide his head in his hands to stave off embarrassment. That was so smooth... And completely fake, a small part of Mishima's mind reminded him. It was all fake. Akira would never really feel that way for him...

"I... You can't just say things like that!" Mishima stuttered, removing his hands to glare at Akira, only for his breath to catch. Akira was watching him closely, his expression nothing short of loving... Mishima had to remind himself that it was fake, that he wasn't enough, that he didn't stand a chance, that-

"Well, this is surprising," a vaguely familiar voice stated, drawing Mishima's attention to the source. He froze when he saw Kawakami and Takemi, the latter smirking at the pair of teens. It was silent for a long moment before Kawakami sighed, smiling slightly.

"We'll leave you to your date," she stated, and Mishima relaxed. It wasn't a date, but at least he didn't have to deal with his aunt teasing them about their 'relationship'... Well, it seemed like he had to suffer through one comment as Kawakami stated, "Don't forget that Tae's clinic gives out free condoms."

"Aunt!" Mishima gasped, scandalised, "I... You... No!"

Kawakami chuckled, reaching out and ruffling Mishima's hair. The teen whined, slapping her hand away, but he couldn't hide the smile that tugged at his lips. Again, a chuckle fell from Kawakami's lips, quickly followed by a fond 'goodbye!'. Mishima echoed the sentiment, waving the couple off. As soon as they were out of sight, though, Mishima groaned and smushed his face onto the table, muttering, "She's. So. Embarrassing."

Akira snorted at that, the sound startling them both so much Mishima sat up. The smaller teen blinked in surprise before dissolving into laughter, his shoulders shaking as he tried to suppress his amusement. His laugh was soon echoed by Akira's as the taller teen curled in on himself, giggling. Mishima's heart fluttered, the sound escaping from Akira too cute for him to handle...He brushed that off, though, changing the topic with a quiet, "So... I've actually been meaning to catch you up on the latest requests I've received! Is that okay?"

When Akira nodded, Mishima launched into what he'd found, only stopping long enough to thank the waitress when she returned with their orders...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A little over two hours later, Mishima and Akira finally arrived at LeBlanc, laughing as Mishima told Akira a story for when he was around eleven years old.

"The... There's no way you did that," Mishima stuttered out between giggles, but Akira just saying he had made the bluenette laugh even more. Of course, their happiness couldn't last, and they both tensed when they walked into LeBlanc and were greeted by the sight of Akechi. The detective looked up from the book he'd been reading when he heard the door open, blinking in surprise when he saw the 'couple' in the doorway. He managed to reign his expression in quickly, but only after something like genuine pain flickered behinds his eyes...

"Ah. Were you two on a date?" he asked, and Mishima forced himself to not hesitate as he nodded, leaning close to Akira. The taller teen wrapped an arm around his shoulders, glaring at Akechi. The sight of Akira being so protective... It made something burn deep in Mishima, but he brushed it off by asking Akechi why he was there. The detective smiled charmingly as he stated, "I'm waiting for Proesector Niijima."

Mishima hummed understandingly, but Boss speaking up caught his attention, "Futaba said something about you two dating, but I didn't quite believe it..."

"I still can't either," Mishima murmured, looking up at Akira with the fondest look he could. The other teen looked down back at him, smiling affectionately. They gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment, but the sound of someone gagging caught their attention. They both looked towards the source, spotting Futaba as she lingered by the bottom of the stairs. Mishima couldn't help but stick his tongue out at her, which made her roll her eyes.

"I don't even want to know where that tongue's been, thanks," she teased, smirking. Mishima's cheeks flushed, but he ignored that in favour of sending Futaba a raised eyebrow and a smirk. That made her face scrunch up in disgust as she grumbled, "Fucking gross."

Mishima laughed aloud at that, leaning his head against Akira's shoulder as he stated, "You're just jealous."

"Pretty sure the only jealous one here is Akechi, but go off I guess," Futaba retorted, and Mishima cringed. As much as he wanted to get Akechi off of his back, he didn't want to hurt the guy if his feelings were genuine (which Mishima doubted, but eh. There's always a possibility)... He looked over at Akechi, who just took a nonchalant sip of his coffee before suggesting Mishima put his orchids in a vase. The bluenette hesitated, but Boss agreeing and grabbing a jug (the closest thing he had to a vase, apparently) to fill it with water made him move. He pulled away from Akira with a small smile, heading over to Boss and handing him his flowers. The older man took them and put them into the vase. The flowers were really pretty...

"So... How'd you two get together?" Futaba asked, and Mishima stiffened. He glanced at Akira, who walked over to him. As the taller teen put his bag down to let Morgana out, Mishima looked over at Futaba, who smirked. However, before he could reply he found Akira speaking up.

"When Yuuki was ill and I went over to help him, one of Akechi's interviews were playing on the TV. I... I was jealous because Yuuki has said before that you're attractive, Akechi, and he picked up on it. I tried to deny it, but I... Uh..." Akira trailed off, visibly embarrassed, so Mishima smiled at him and rolled his eyes, resting an arm on Akira's waist as he turned them so that they could keep an eye on Akechi and Futaba, who had moved over to near the detective.

"When I'm ill, I lose all of my filter," he stated, leaning into Akira's side, "When Akira tried to deny that he was jealous, I said he's more attractive than you are Akechi -which I mean no offence by. I'm just biased because I've had a crush on Akira for a... ages- and he became really flustered. Which led to me saying he's cute when he blushes and that made him even more flustered. A... And my lack of filter may or may not have meant that I told him I have a crush on him... Th... Then Akira said he likes me too and asked me to be his boyfriend..."

There was a moment of silence before Futaba made a small cooing noise, and Mishima's cheeks (which were already pretty pink) burst into red. As Futaba started to say they were adorable, Akira groaned aloud, ducking his head so that it was hidden in Mishima's shoulder. The older teen tensed before relaxing, nuzzling his 'boyfriend's' hair as he tightened his grip around Akira's waist. In response, Akira curled his own arms around Mishima's waist, practically curled up into the smaller teen. Mishima blushed brightly but didn't fight it. He knew this was the only way he ever stood a chance of knowing what dating Akira would be like. Guilt may have been eating away at him, but he had to take the opportunity...

"Well, this is surprising," the older Niijima sister stated, appearing suddenly by the door to the cafe. Mishima froze at the sight of her, but she didn't seem judgemental... Instead, she just focused on Akechi and said they needed to hurry to work. The detective nodded, standing. He seemed to hesitate for a long second before turning to Mishima, sending him a small, surprisingly genuine smile.

"I wish you both well in your relationship," he ducked his head respectively, "Have a good evening."

With that, he left quickly, but not before Mishima noticed a dark look dancing behind his eyes... He brushed it off, saying goodbye to Niijima as she left too. Once they were both gone, Mishima let himself frown, brow furrowed as Akira pulled away.

"Are you alright?" the taller teen asked when he saw Mishima's expression, causing the smaller teen to pause. He didn't want to worry Akira, but he didn't know if his assumptions were even accurate... He sighed and smiled at Akira before replying.

"I'm fine. Just... Akechi was acting really oddly. It's... disconcerting," he stated, purposefully making his smile that much more reassuring when Akira didn't look convinced. However, Futaba spoke up before Akira had the chance to argue.

"Yuuki! Let's go play some games whilst Akira and Sojiro make dinner!" the ginger girl suggested, already grabbing Mishima's arm and pulling him towards the stairs. The bluenette tried to argue, but Akira sent him a fond look and told him just to go have fun, so he did...


End file.
